Bud Powell Then And Now by Harvey Pekar and Dan Morgenstern 10/22/1964 Bud Powell Then… By Harvey Pekar Though few knowledgeable observers would deny that Bud Powell ranks as one of the greatest and most influential jazz pianists, only a fraction of his career and recorded output has been discussed intensively. Powell’s style has evolved in a manner unlike that of any other jazzman. Two giants contemporary with Powell, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie (who almost could be said to belong to the musical generation immediately preceding Powell), didn’t alter their approaches significantly after about 1946. But a person comparing a Powell solo from that period with one recorded about a decade later would find it hard to believe that both were played by the same man. The pianist’s career can be seen in rather distinct periods. During the first, which lasted from 1943 to about 1945, he played with trumpeter Cootie Williams, absorbing and synthesizing the approaches of various musicians. The second, 1946 to 1953, found Powell at the top of his game, and on the basis of his work during this period, his reputation as one of the titans of modern jazz was established. It is the period since 1954, during which Powell’s work has been extremely inconsistent, his playing quality and style sometimes varying from record to record, that bears closer examination now. Many of these records have been dismissed by critics, but as a body of work, they constitute a fascinating and high-quality output. But to see them in proper light, one must consider what came before them. Powell learned from several pre-bop pianists. Earl Hines was an influence, directly and/or through his disciples Billy Kyle and Nat Cole. The simple, repeated left-hand figure that Powell used to establish a groove was similar to one used by Cole, as were some of his left-hand voicings. Art Tatum also influenced Powell, particularly in his approach to ballads. The mark of these swing-era pianists is evident in Powell’s first record session with trumpeter Williams in January 1944. On Sweet Lorraine his solo is reminiscent of both Tatum and Hines. His spot on My Old Flame has an impressionistic quality. Throughout the record he plays Tatumish runs, using them as might an accompanist, to add lushness to the performance. On Frank Socolow’s Reverse the Charges , also cut in the mid-‘40s, he improvises in a Cole-out-of-Hines style. Parker, however, had the greatest influence on Powell, who adapted some of the altoist’s language for piano. Parker’s stamp on Powell is apparent on the Williams’ August 1944 recording of Blue Garden Blues . The pianist’s spot is an example of almost fully evolved bebop. During his stay with Williams, Powell’s style was in transition, but by 1946 at the latest, it had crystallized, and he’d moved completely into the bopper’s camp. He participated as a sideman on a number of all-star combo dates around this time, contributing excellent solos on Royal Roost (RCA), and Boppin’ A Riff , Fat Boy , and Webb City (Savoy). Trumpeters Fats Navarro and Kenny Dorham and saxophonist Sonny Stitt were among those who played with Powell on records. The melodic content of Powell’s spots is meaty and his attack powerful. He constructs intelligently, building deliberately, swinging easily. Also recommended is his work on J.J. Johnson’s Jay Bird , Coppin’ the Bop , and Jay Jay (Savoy). Good as Powell was with combos featuring a horn front line, his greatest recorded achievements were to come as an unaccompanied soloist or leader of a trio. Featured this way, he had more room in which to stretch out and display his enormous gifts. Easily one of his best albums is The Genius of Bud Powell (Verve). One side of the LP is devoted to Powell’s playing his own compositions unaccompanied. These distinctive pieces include the beautiful Parisienne Thorofare , which employs a scale in the A section; Oblivion , a graceful melody; the brooding Dusk In Sandi ; and Hallucinations (also called Budo ) and The Fruit , both of which convey a briskly cheerful feeling. On the Genius album’s other side—bassist Ray Brown and drummer Buddy Rich join the pianist on two selections—Powell’s use of substitute chords on Tea for Two makes it his composition as much as Vincent Youmans’. Aside from Sandi , where he is pensive, Powell displays fantastic drive. He double-times often, and some of the tempos aren’t just fast—they’re breakneck. Ideas pour from him in a torrent, and his solos have remarkable continuity. He generally uses his left hand often and effectively. Sometimes he employs the Nat Coleish repeated figures referred to earlier; on The Last Time I Saw Paris he employs stride figures humorously. He applies his left hand sparingly on much of Just One of Those Things , creating a sort of stop-time effect with it. Bud Powell: Jazz Giant (Verve) is another incredible LP containing a number of up- tempo masterpieces: Tempus Fugue-It , Cherokee , All God’s Chillun Got Rhythm , Get Happy , and Sweet Georgia Brown . Here again Powell exhibits great inventiveness, playing long, rich lines. His improvisation on the medium-tempo tunes Celia , Strictly Confidential , Sometimes I’m Happy , and So Sorry Please is many-noted but lyrical and well paced. His ballad work on Yesterdays and April in Paris exhibits more than a touch of Tatum. He plays near the melody, ornamenting it and filling some of the rests with tricky runs. On the surface, his playing seems to be superior cocktail piano, but it is much more. What cocktail pianist could conceive harmonies as rich or as fresh as Powell’s, or who could alter a theme as intelligently? Powell’s ornamentation of the melody is done tastefully; sometimes it may be rather delicate, but it isn’t overfrilly or exhibitionistic. Powell’s treatment of Body and Soul is somewhat different. He strays farther from the melody, improvising delicate lines. Whether he plays the piano heavily or caresses it, he achieves a full, lovely sonority. Perhaps the most celebrated Powell LPs have been The Amazing Bud Powell, Volumes I and II (Blue Note), made in three sessions from 1949 to 1953. On most tracks he performs with bass and drums. Among the selections are three takes of Un Poco Loco , a striking theme reflecting an Afro-Latin influence. Powell’s playing here is passionate but not well sustained; in general, his phrases are shorter than usual. He uses call-and- response patterns and a rumbling bass line. Powell improvises very well on the moderate-tempo numbers, particularly A Night in Tunisia and Ornithology . His debt to Tatum is again evident on the ballads. Notable are two versions of It Could Happen to You and Over The Rainbow . On the master of Happen , included in the Blue Note 1504 collection, he rips off several electrifying double-time phrases that contrast sharply and effectively with the otherwise reflective tone of performance. Rainbow abounds with brilliant little single-note lines that fall between the main phrases of the melody. Sure Thing and Glass Enclosure are unusual performances almost on the order of chamber music. On both, bassist George Duvivier figures in an important melodic role, not functioning solely as timekeeper. Some of the passages he and Powell play on Sure Thing are Bach-flavored. Enclosure is an extended-form piece, remarkable because it contains so many mood changes in so short a time and yet makes sense as a whole. During the late ‘40s and early ‘50s Powell cut some outstanding records with small groups that included horns. Among them are the four 1949 pieces on Blue Note: Dance of the Infidels , 52nd Street Theme , Wail , and Bouncing with Bud . Powell is joined here by the then little-known tenor man, Sonny Rollins, and by trumpeter Fats Navarro, a man whose gifts equaled Powell’s. All three improvise brilliantly, making these tracks indispensable to bop collectors. In 1949 and 1950, Powell performed on some Sonny Stitt quartet sides (Presige). Most of them are taken at a brisk tempo, and the pianist, playing in a nonstop manner, eats up the changes. Nevertheless, his work is not as forceful as on the aforementioned Verves. One of the main reasons is that his left hand isn’t used as effectively—his comping is relatively sedate. Powell joined Parker, Gillespie, drummer Max Roach, and bassist Charlie Mingus in 1953 for an all-star concert at Toronto’s Massey Hall (now available on Fantasy). His playing here is first rate; he easily holds his own with Parker and Gillespie. In addition to his solos, his accompaniment on All the Things You Are is quite interesting. At some points he executes a walking pattern of lush chords, greatly enriching the harmonic texture of the performance. Powell also was recorded leading a trio at Massey Hall. These performances, as well as several others from the same period, are collected on Fantasy. This LP would disgrace no pianist, but Powell’s playing is somewhat less fluent and forceful than usual. In addition, there are several atypical tracks. On Jubilee (Hallelujah) some of his eight-note runs recall Teddy Wilson, as does his left-hand work, at times. On I Want to Be Happy his phrasing isn’t as smooth as usual, and he tries some odd, Thelonius Monk types of intervals. This track hints at later developments in his approach, as does a 10-inch trio album, issued on Roost and dating from 1953.